Shanghai Court Rules iPad Sales May Continue for Now
Sohu IT, 2/24/12
The Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court issued rulings yesterday in both Shenzhen-based display device manufacturer Proview Technology's suit seeking an injunction to block sales of the Apple iPad and in Apple's motion to suspend hearings. The court rejected Proview's request, and agreed to Apple's motion to suspend.
The court found insufficient evidence to classify Apple's sale of iPad tablets as trademark infringement, citing indeterminate ownership of the disputed iPad trademark and difficulties in determining whether or not Apple's use of the iPad trademark in the United States constituted infringement.
Lawyer You Yunting explained that court rulings were a stage in the process of litigation, whereas court judgments represent the conclusion of the review process. The court's decision to issue a ruling at this stage means that Apple will be able to continue sales of iPad products in China while the case proceeds, but offers no judgment on whether or not the company will ultimately be able to continue sales.
Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "Update: Proview Files Appeal to Ban Apple iPad" MD 2/07/12 issue.
Keywords: You Yunting hardware litigation trademark Apple Proview iPad law computer IPR infringement tablet
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